The Lightness Project is already halfway through, with a year and a half of work led by its interdisciplinary and international team. Social engagement, cutting-edge technologies, regulatory roadmaps, and innovative business models are well advanced.
Lightness Project Quick Summary
The beginning of June was marked by the meeting of all the partners involved in the Lightness project for the third General Assembly, to assess the progress made and the main challenges ahead.
On June 9, the first regulatory workshop with policymakers, regulatory entities and actors involved in the energy communities was organized in the city of Cagliari (IT). The role of municipalities in promoting energy communities was highlighted, as well as main barriers related to bureaucracy. Meetings between policymakers are key to exchanging ideas and unlocking regulatory barriers!
In terms of technological developments, a big step forward was taken. The low cost technology platform now supports 6 languages: English, French, Polish, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. For ease of use, a mobile version compatible with iOS and Android was released. In terms of functionality and usability, new widgets, improved performance and design, and a new illustrated manual were developed.
Currently the focus is on enabling push notifications, a step-by-step guided tour, as well as additional widgets and customizations.
Regarding the social commitment of end users in the pilot sites, a commitment strategy that includes principles of environmental justice. The strategy makes use of reflective learning processes whereby steps taken throughout the process address new knowledge or needs of both pilot leaders and end users. The overall engagement strategy for pilots can be broken down into three interconnected phases, namely the scouting, recruitment, and engagement phase. Activities such as participatory workshops and pilot interviews have been carried out to reveal needs, desires and proposals for their Energy Communities.
Pilot updates
Energy Cooperative in Alginet
Spain
The Alginet pilot has carried out several participation workshops. A presentation of the project and pilot was made for the members of the cooperative, which was useful as a preliminary evaluation of people’s perception of the Energy Communities. Two more participatory workshops allowed the collection of important contributions and comments from end users. These are of great value to the project and also a way to strengthen the social fabric, which is one of the main assets of the cooperative.
Residential community in Woerden
The Netherlands
Woerden was the first pilot site to initiate outreach activities through interviews, door-to-door visits, phone calls, and flyers. By listening to residents’ values and tailoring the engagement process to their feedback, 12 residents signed up to join the project. Shortly after, residents received their Lightness community boards and a workshop was organized to help residents manage it according to their individual needs, and a community game was organized to allow residents to hear each other’s motivations. This workshop indicated that while energy literacy in the group is relatively high, there is a great need for support in digital literacy. To address this, one-on-one meetings with residents were arranged to help resolve any issues and get their feedback to improve the dashboard.
Residential community in Quatrebras
The Netherlands
For the new Dutch pilot in Quatrebras, we engaged with the neighborhood in different ways to introduce them to the Lightness project. The recruitment phase ended in May with the participation of 22 households. At the end of June, the pilot was carried out through a first workshop where end users had their first introduction to the community dashboard and together discussed what might happen next. Soon, residents will have some time to experience the board, and a workshop will be held to co-create the gamification element of the board and enhance ties with the community.
Smart Condo in Cagliari
Italy
Strong ties between residents are allowing ideas and knowledge to be easily shared among the eight engaged households. The first workshop was held in June 2022, allowing end users to highlight the value of their pilot; the opportunity to have the chance to save energy and money, and to be part, as pioneers, of a very innovative European project. Renovation work will begin in September. An important part of the renovation has been the 110% SuperEcoBonus that incentivized various works by freeing participants from collateral costs. Strong modernization strategies will improve the efficiency of the Italian smart condominium. We have always aimed to achieve the targets set by European legislation (ZEB), at the moment we can safely reach the intermediate target of nZEB, which has also been quite challenging as we started with the lowest energy efficiency class.
Apartment block in Wroclaw
Poland
Engagement of apartment block residents poses significant challenges given that around 30% of residents are digitally excluded or physically immobilized. In order to inform and approach end users, 2 brochures and a poster were distributed. However, the organized workshop did not have much participation. It’s time to use different, more creative, and more time-consuming recruitment tools, like door-to-door chats, more festive get-togethers in your common spaces or backyard, or phone calls with immobile residents.
Did you know that there are different regulations for self-consumption?
